Lotte New York Palace has opened The Gold Room, the newest addition to the property’s culinary offerings, celebrating New York City’s history within the Villard Mansion.
The Renaissance-style Gold Room, the most famous of the Villard House rooms, serves as Villard Restaurant and the The Gold Room bar. The room was not decorated when the mansion was built but was completed at a later date by Stanford White.
The room is almost entirely gold, with gilt ceilings, walls and wainscoting. At first, the room was intended to be a music room, so White designed a suspended balcony at the room's north end as a performance stage for musicians. A narrow stairway hidden behind the wall paneling provides the ascension to the balcony. Wall panels are adorned with images of musical instruments and garlands of foliage in low relief. High above the north and south arches are two John La Farge lunette paintings, entitled "Art" and "Music," serving as dramatic focal points in the space. A series of leaded glass windows above the wainscot on the east side of the room, also credited to La Farge, allow natural light to enter.
Rebecca Hubbard is the GM of Lotte New York Palace.